A Couple of questions

[Deluhathol]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me at what age do you fly your babies? and what is the minimum number of birds you would recommend to fly?

[Alamo]

If you mean racing age,you would like them to be at least 4 months old or older...The amount you have depends on the size of your loft or section you have for them,OR how many can you handle in a good way,so that they stay healthy etc....Alamo

[spirit wings]

do you mean let out for the first time or race them?...if it is for the first time, I let mine out AFTER they are trapped trained, I think 7 to 8 weeks old is a good age, over that they may get strong on the wing and go too far before they have learned the place, as far as how many in a flock, I would say 10 or more flying together would make a nice small flock. the rule of thumb is 2 ft per bird.

[Deluhathol]

Well they are racing homers but I don't plan on racing them. I got them mainly to have some homers to fly around the yard. I ask this because I have 3 babies that are ready to fly and I was trying to see if maybe I did something wrong. I had let them out once before and everything went well. I let them out for the second time on Sunday morning and yes I did let them out very hungry. Only one came in when I called them and the other 2 just sat on the roof of my house and looked at me. The they started flying around again and I lost track of them and haven't seen them since about 11 am on Sunday. If you have any advice on how I could possibly train my birds better please feel free to chime in. Its also a good possibility that I am just being a paranoid parent.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by Deluhathol

Well they are racing homers but I don't plan on racing them. I got them mainly to have some homers to fly around the yard. I ask this because I have 3 babies that are ready to fly and I was trying to see if maybe I did something wrong. I had let them out once before and everything went well. I let them out for the second time on Sunday morning and yes I did let them out very hungry. Only one came in when I called them and the other 2 just sat on the roof of my house and looked at me. The they started flying around again and I lost track of them and haven't seen them since about 11 am on Sunday. If you have any advice on how I could possibly train my birds better please feel free to chime in. Its also a good possibility that I am just being a paranoid parent.

well, just 3 birds out for the second time can get a bit nervouse. If they know how to trap they should come in sooner or later. It is easier to loft fly birds with older birds as they feel safe and learn from them...now this is if you have birds that stay around the loft like mine, some homers route pretty far and you would'nt want to let a yb out with them. It just takes time, but I would look into getting more birds. I lost 4 my first year to birds of prey so with 3 you may not have any birds if you get a hawk visit. safety in numbers.

[Deluhathol]

The racers that I had bought were already flown and they were a few years old so unfortunately I cant fly them or I will lose my breeders. The 3 babies that I flew were the first that i had raised and was able to fly. I have about 6 more babies still in nest so if they do come home I may just wait to fly them again until I have the other 6 ready to fly, or wait until I have at least 10.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by Deluhathol

The racers that I had bought were already flown and they were a few years old so unfortunately I cant fly them or I will lose my breeders. The 3 babies that I flew were the first that i had raised and was able to fly. I have about 6 more babies still in nest so if they do come home I may just wait to fly them again until I have the other 6 ready to fly, or wait until I have at least 10.

I hope you don't over breed these birds, were they bred this year before you got them?. three rounds per couple is about all you should do for the year. I find it easier to just buy 10 to 30 ybs and train them, that way you do not have any prisoners you need to find room for and you can train all at the same time. when those ybs mature you can put the pairs all in the breeding section at the same time and you can have hatching going on around the same time so you can train all the new babies at the same time. It takes as much time to train and loft fly 3 as it does 40..

[Deluhathol]

The guy I got the birds from had the males and female separated, so I just got to pick what ones I wanted. They had not been bred until I bought them so they are on their second round of babies now. Unfortunately pigeon keeping is not to popular here in the california bay area unless you want rollers. Finding young homers or even fancy pigeons is not an easy task.

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Originally Posted by Deluhathol

I was wondering if anyone could tell me at what age do you fly your babies? and what is the minimum number of birds you would recommend to fly?

I start putting mine on the landing board at about 27 or so days old. They begin "flying" in little test flights in a few days. Not sure what you mean "minimum" number to fly ? You really only need one bird to fly. When I started out, I would often only send one or two birds to a race.

[Deluhathol]

What I had meant by "minimum" is if their is a minimum number of birds that is recommended to fly at once or if you could just fly them 1 at a time, in which you just answered for me. So thanks . And as of last night everyone was home safely.

[RodSD]

There is safety in numbers so I fly my birds in group. If there is a hawk, they can warn themselves up and somewhat confuses the hawk.

I used to release my birds at 4 weeks old, but I don't do that anymore because of hawks. I now release them around 6-8 weeks old, semi-strong on the wing.

Don't worry too much. Sometimes they don't get hungry right away because the weather might have changed. Sometimes the bird might get far more share of food so it won't be hungry compared to the rest.

[trinity]

i think u carry your birds out of the cages by hand before releasing them for flying this could have caused them to wonder sitting on the roof till that late though they were very hungry. Always i suggest you train them to get into to loft before flying them. And the numbers u need to fly is all the 3 will do or put one bird in the trapped cage and fly the other two so that when they land they would quikly try to get into the loft rather than sit on the roof

[Glyn]

well i have 3 ybs there 4 weeks old and they can fly ish lol but they could fly off because i keep the loft door open for venterlation , these are my ybs , and how do you train them to go back into the loft as im new to the pigeons world

[Glyn]

these are my ybs

[Glyn]